Condo Owners Who Rent To Tourists

Hi all!

I am considering buying a condo in the Palma Real complex. I have done much research on the process and even met with a Realtor while on the island.

My question is for those of you who own a condo in Aruba for investment purposes.Do you find that you've atleast broken even, if not made a profit off of renting out your condo?
I am able to check calendars on websites like VRBO, however some of those "rented" weeks could always be the owner themselves so it is hard to decipher if the units are really profitable or not.

I of course want this property for my pleasure as well, I hope to spend more time as the years go by, but in the meantime, would like to know that I can pay my mortgage and HOA fee's off of renters most of the time.

I am considering buying a condo in the Palma Real complex. I have done much research on the process and even met with a Realtor while on the island.

My question is for those of you who own a condo in Aruba for investment purposes.Do you find that you've atleast broken even, if not made a profit off of renting out your condo?
I am able to check calendars on websites like VRBO, however some of those "rented" weeks could always be the owner themselves so it is hard to decipher if the units are really profitable or not.

I of course want this property for my pleasure as well, I hope to spend more time as the years go by, but in the meantime, would like to know that I can pay my mortgage and HOA fee's off of renters most of the time.

We've spent the last 9 trips looking at properties and almost bought a unit in Palma Real. The real estate people that we spoke with over the years expressed a 50% vacancy during the year, so you'll have to do the math. Fortunately, the best rental tenancy is during high season, when most owners charge a premium rate for vacation renters.
Palma Real has been consistently maintained over the years and we've stayed there numerous times. We think you'll enjoy it there. Best of luck!

Did anything in particular deter you from buying at Palma Real (you mentioned you almost bought a unit) just curious if there is anything I should look out for from someone who has been through this process! Thanks

Originally Posted by schexc

We've spent the last 9 trips looking at properties and almost bought a unit in Palma Real. The real estate people that we spoke with over the years expressed a 50% vacancy during the year, so you'll have to do the math. Fortunately, the best rental tenancy is during high season, when most owners charge a premium rate for vacation renters.
Palma Real has been consistently maintained over the years and we've stayed there numerous times. We think you'll enjoy it there. Best of luck!

There re were no negative reasons for us at Palma Real, it was more about the timing for us. We wanted a one bedroom on the first floor, which is not considered ground level there. There are only four such units to choose from that meet that criteria and we missed the one we wanted, as the price dropped while we were building our new house. We weren't in a position to manage both at the same time, so ended up making a purchase at a different location two years later.

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask. We are very satisfied with our real estate agent too.

Originally Posted by crdavies

Did anything in particular deter you from buying at Palma Real (you mentioned you almost bought a unit) just curious if there is anything I should look out for from someone who has been through this process! Thanks

one of the things that i would want to see are the financials of the hoa/poa.
i would hate to purchase and then find later that the $ in the reservesare insufficient and then have to pay a special assessment in order to get a project completed.
(roof, pool, etc)
please make sure that the place's financial reserves are sufficiently funded.

The HOA at Palma Real is competitively priced. We can't speak from our own experience but all of the owners that we spoke to told us that there was a very strong HOA board there. There is quite a mix of owners in the development, which lends itself to varied amounts of discussion as to how funds get appropriated, but I imagine you'll find that in most situations. Since we've been watching the property and staying there they've painted the exterior, updated the exterior lighting and replaced the seating around the pools. We never experienced any delay in trash pickup and the grounds and pools are taken care of regularly. They've always had 24hr gated security, but had never used the gate, which we though was a little unsecure, but last trip they had installed a functional gate. The security guard makes rounds throughout the property every couple of hours too. We don't know the status of their reserve fund, but we were told that the owners contribute a few dollars extra on top of the HOA to cover the unexpected.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and tips. I did receive info on HOA previously, it is a bit high in comparison to some of the other complexes I've considered which offer more amenities. i.e. the new Pearl near Eagle beach (which looks like it is an amazing project!) is similarly priced and offers much more. However, the lower price of the Palma Real unit may help even that out for me. I also have made the decision to only look into complexes that allow a dog, if I will be spending months or even several weeks on end there, my pup will be joining me, so that was a hard decision to make because it narrowed down to just a few complexes that fit my criteria! I will however now be asking about their 'reserve fund' and have also asked the realtor today if I can see a copy of the Bylaws (does anyone know if for some reason I would not be allowed to see those, you never know if the laws will be different in another country!)
Any other info will be greatly appreciated!
Crystal